Brawn: Ferrari drivers should admit mistakes, like Hamilton

F1 managing director of motorsports Ross Brawn believes Ferrari's drivers should own up to mistakes and follow Lewis Hamilton's example of taking responsibility for errors.

Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel clashed in the closing stages of Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix, causing their simultaneous demise from the race and a significant loss of points for their team.

In the heat of the moment, each driver pinned the responsibility of the skirmish on the other, while Scuderia boss Mattia Binotto qualified the on-track contact as "a silly mistake", the Swiss summoning both men to Maranello this week for a meeting behind closed doors.

• Rosberg: Vettel more to blame than Leclerc for Ferrari clash

"It’s never nice when team-mates knock one another out of a race, even more so when it’s not even a particularly important result that goes begging, as in this case, third place in Brazil was the most they could aspire to," Brawn wrote in his post-race debrief.

"After tensions flared in the races following the summer break, everything seemed to have calmed down in the Ferrari dressing room.

"But now, Mattia Binotto faces the tough task of getting things back on track and indeed he said just that in his interviews after the race.

"He had to get stuck in and tell the drivers to face up to their responsibilities, which in Maranello always means putting the interests of the team ahead of those of the individual, which was not the case in the race."

Brawn suggested that Vettel and Leclerc should perhaps take a leaf out of Hamilton's book on how to deal with mistakes.

The Mercedes driver was also involved in a late race clash at Interlagos when he punted Alex Albon into a spin and out of the points during an over-optimistic move on the inside of the Red Bull driver.

But the Brit immediately recognized his blunder and made it a point to apologize to Albon.

"I wouldn’t want to venture an opinion on who was most at fault for the collision, but in the cold light of day, maybe it would be good if one of them will follow Hamilton’s example and immediately admit culpability, as the champion did regarding his clash with Albon," Brawn added.

"If Ferrari really wants to put an end to Mercedes’ dominance, not only does it need to provide its drivers with a more competitive car next year, it must also ensure that incidents like this one are not repeated.

"Formula 1 is a team sport, especially so in Maranello."

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